Sweeping machine



y 1970 c. o. H. G. BENNICH 3,513,498

SWEEPING MACHINE Filed April 22, 1968 United States Patent "ice3,513,498 SWEEPING MACHINE Carl Olof Hjalmar Gustavsson Bennich, Ranas,Sweden, assignor to Industri Belos Aktiebolag, Rimbo, Sweden, acorporation of Sweden Filed Apr. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 722,851

Claims priority, application Sweden, Apr. 24, '1967,

Int. Cl. E01h 1/04 US. CI. -84 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thisinvention concerns a sweeping machine of the kind comprising ahorizontal rotatable brush cylinder which throws-the rubbish into areceiver placed at a distance above the ground, in which a tube isplaced parallel with the brush cylinder between the latter and thereceiver. The tube is supported by the ground in contact with theperiphery of the brush and has a transverse bar passed therethrough withfree radial play.

This invention relates to a sweeping machine comprising a horizontalbrush cylinder which throws the rubbish into a receiving device. Beneaththe receiving device there is a free space of suflicient height toprevent the receiving device, generally formed by the collecting troughof an elevator, to hit inequalities of the ground.

In order to prevent, that the rubbish is thrown through this space bythe rotating brush, known sweeping machines are generally provided witha flexible screen hang ing freely between the brush and said space. Ithas also been suggested to use as a screen a roller mounted onoscillatable arms maintaining the roller on the ground at a distance infront of the brush cylinder. This roller picks up a certain amount ofrubbish and flattens it onto the ground thereby reducing the grip of thebrush on the material to be thrown up.

Rubbish and other particles hitting such screens fall down onto theground and thereby reduce the sweeping and cleaning capacity of themachine.

According to this invention, a tube is arranged parallel with the brushcylinder between the same and the receiving device, said tube beingsupported by the ground in contact with the periphery of the brushcylinder and being longitudinally traversed with radial play by atransverse bar mounted onto the machine. This tube screens off the spacebeneath the receiving device towards the brush. This has showneffectively to reduce the drawbacks connected with known screen members.The tube rolls on the ground in front of the brush and is simultaneouslydriven round by the latter. The portion of the surface of the tubeturned towards the brush moves upwards and feeds the rubbish adhering tothe tube to the line of contact between the tube and the brush, fromwhich the rubbish is thrown forwards and upwards into the receivingdevice.

3,513,498 Patented May 26, 1970 An embodiment of the invention isdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows adiagrammatic longitudinal section through the brush, the screening meansand the receiving .means of a sweeping machine.

The brush cylinder 1 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow 2during the movement of the sweeping machine in the direction of thearrow 3. A tube 4 is freely and loosely traversed by a bar 5 to keep thetube within the range of its normal active positions, in which the tube4 rests on the ground 6 and rolls over it while being simultaneously incontact with the brush 1 by which it is driven round in the direction ofarrow 7. Forwardly of the tube 4 and at a space 8 above the ground thereis the receiving trough 9 of a bucket elevator 10 moving in thedirection of arrow 11. The rotation of the tube 4 in the direction ofarrow 7 is produced by the rolling of the tube on the ground 6 andsustained by the action of the periphery of the brush cylinder 1. Bythis rotation of the tube 4 particles and pieces of rubbish adhering tothe surface of the tube are fed upwards to the line of contact betweenthe tube and the brush, the latter brushing these particles and piecesoff the tube and throwing them over to the trough 9.

The tube 4 is preferably made of a relatively soft, elastic materialable to resist shocks, such as rubber or the like.

What I claim is:

1. A sweeping machine, comprising a brush cylinder adapted to contact aground surface and being rotatable about an axis extending in at leastsubstantial parallelism with said ground surface; a receiver for matterswept ofl? said ground surface by said brush cylinder, said receiverhaving an elongated inlet spaced upwardly of said ground surface andaway from said brush cylinder, extending lengthwise of the latter; anelongated rod mounted in the space between said brush cylinder and inletand extending longitudinally of the former; and a tubular deflectorsurrounding said rod with freedom of play radially thereof in directionsparallel and transverse to the plane of said ground surface, saiddeflector being in rolling contact with said ground surface and withsaid brush cylinder so as to be rotated by the latter.

2. A sweeping machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubulardeflector is composed of elastically yieldable material.

3. A sweeping machine as defined in claim 2, wherein said elasticallyyieldable materials is an elastomeric material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1954 Parker 15-83 X 8/1965Wilgus l583 X US. Cl. X.R. 15-49

